


Heartbeat

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, yes as in the Carrie Underwood song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 21:42:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11975607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: No, they don't mind being with everyone else.  And then there's nights like tonight, when they want each other to themselves.





	Heartbeat

The after-finals party was everything it was expected to be at Auradon Prep.    
  
With the moon just beginning to rise, the music started, flowing loud and free like a wave through the open air of the front courtyard.  The lawn was full, grass crunching under everyone’s shoes in time to their steps, the shuffles and bounces of their dancing along with the frequent trips to the punch bowl and buffet table. The only thing louder than the music was the laughter; the happiness and joy hung thickly in the air like a sweet smelling perfume, wafting and winding as each individual body moved through the night.

Mal and Evie met like orbiting stars as the party went on, ghosting past each other as Evie made for the punch bowl while Mal was just leaving with her refill, or catching each other’s eyes across the lawn for brief moments before being dragged off to dance by friends.  It was a good time, a  _great_  time, and at first they didn’t mind drifting around one another, so close yet so far, as ships might pass in the night.  There was fun to be had, celebration, and in the moments when she lost herself in the music and the radiance of her friends and classmates, Mal forgot to notice how the cup she held with her was a poor substitute for Evie’s hand.  
  
At one point near ten, when the party was showing no signs of stopping, their orbiting stars eclipsed each other, meeting underneath King Beast’s statue as it watchfully gazed out over its students.  
  
“Some night,” Evie giggled, her laughter a song all on its own that threaded itself within the music blaring from the speaker system.  
  
“Some night,” Mal agreed, looking back out across the party before lifting a finger sandwich to Evie’s perfectly painted lips.  "Here, Carlos has had one too many of these.“  
  
"Saving him from himself.  What a hero,” Evie’s sly smile flashed before she let Mal feed her the sandwich, gone in just three bites.  
  
Mal absentmindedly rubbed her fingers together, clearing off crumbs, never taking her eyes off of Evie.  It was an afterschool celebration, not a royal cotillion, and even for a place like Auradon Prep they still understood the meaning of the word “casual”.  No fancy suits or fairytale ballgowns here tonight, but that of course would not stop Evie.  Her leather jacket over a glittering dress so deep blue it almost looked black was what she wore, most definitely in connection with the fact that on more than one occasion Mal had mentioned the jacket-over-dress look was one of her favorites on Evie.  
  
“…I miss you,” Mal said quietly, unknowingly leaning in close with the pull Evie had on her.  "Three hours later and we haven’t even had one dance together.“  
  
"I miss you t—”  
  
A mighty roar rose all at once around them as the music changed, the beat picked up, and Jay took to the grass with his dance moves.  Claps were like thunder, whistles were like screeching winds, brewing a storm of cacophony that rang Mal’s eardrums and made Evie wonder if she’d be able to hear herself think at this point.  The noise of the cheering fell back like the tide just as Mal was considering covering her ears.  
  
“…Kind of a crowded dancefloor,” Evie sighed, when she was sure her sigh could be heard.  
  
“Yeah, it—”  
  
“Come on you two!” Lonnie skirted by just then, catching Mal by the hand with a giant grin and tugging her across the gravel, waving Evie along with her other hand as a gesture to follow.  "Come check out Jay!!“  
  
Evie’s hand lifted and reflexively reached out for Mal like metal being pulled at by a magnet, but Lonnie’s high spirits couldn’t be stopped, and with her Mal disappeared into the sea of bodies.  
  
Time continued to tick with each pulse from the speakers and thud of feet vibrating through the ground.  Energy stayed high, never dwindled.  Evie spent a moment with Carlos, talking, joking, laughing, taking his hand and twirling him around at the crescendo of a song while Dude hopped around their feet.  
  
Later on, chords and lyrics lilted around her as her sapphire studded heels carried her over to the punch bowl—not out of thirst, but just needing somewhere to linger.  Her senses had dulled a bit as her mind wandered.  The music didn’t seem as loud, even though it definitely hadn’t waned, and with her thoughts elsewhere it was like she had wrapped herself in a silken bubble of quiet; comfortable, albeit lonely.  
  
"My bike is parked around back,” Mal’s voice suddenly burst the bubble as it silently came up behind Evie and whispered in her ear.  "Let’s blow this popsicle stand.“  
  
Evie felt her smile coming on like the sun breaking the cover of clouds.  Without even catching a last nostalgic glance at the party, she lightly and easily went along as Mal’s arm slipped around her waist and led her, sneaking past the buffet table, the bushes, disappearing into the shadow of the building where not even the school’s lone couples had snuck away for some harmless PDA.  There it was, waiting at the edge of the forest that guarded the school from behind, Mal’s purple Vespa.  
  
"Your chariot awaits,” Mal said, handing Evie a helmet and keeping the bike steady as the girl hopped on.  
  
Mal was next, fastening her helmet, and Evie’s arms didn’t waste a single moment wrapping around her.  
  
“Where to?” Mal asked.  
  
Back here, a whole campus away from the front lawn, the sounds of the party were already dimming and softening as they lost their reach by the time they washed over the pair.  
  
“…Somewhere far, so far we can’t see the city lights,” Evie answered, leaning forward and resting her chin on Mal’s shoulder.  
  
“…A girl after my own heart.”  
  
The rumble of the Vespa being revved up was the nail in the coffin, the one thing that finally drowned out the party for good.  Then they were gone, off on their journey through the forest with only the headlight of the bike lighting their way as if they sped along on a road of gold.  It was still too much, the rolling reverberations of the bike, too much for them to hear each other if they talked and relegating them both to silence as Mal steered through the trees.  
  
The canopy was thick in some places, thin in others, and they traveled on and off in moonlight because of it.  Woods at night always seemed to veer towards either spooky or magical, and with her Mal, Evie found they were definitely the latter.  Life lit up wherever the moon touched, tall grasses sparkled in so many shades of green, and although none were quite as dazzling as that of Mal’s eyes they still held Evie’s attention for the split second that they could before she’d zipped by.  She’d catch glimpses of flowers, vividly colored all on their own even in the shroud of darkness, so soft and regal Evie thought she would see fairies dancing among the petals if she stopped and got close enough.  
  
Honestly?  This was enough for her.  Alone with Mal on a nighttime ride through the magic of Auradon.  That was enough for Evie.  
  
And yet, so much later when Mal slowed the bike down as the trees broke and they drifted into a vast clearing, Evie was so happy they hadn’t stopped at a mere nighttime ride.  When the engine cut, new sounds were here—the gentle, tinkling chorus of cricket chirps, like a miniature orchestra heralding their arrival. They got off the Vespa and left the helmets on the seat, lacing their fingers together and strolling through the grass to the middle of the clearing.  A sky full of diamond dust and one giant opal hung above them; Evie wasn’t sure where to rest her attention first.  The forest?  The clearing?  The sky?  Mal?  She wasn’t sure at all.  
  
“…Much better,” Mal breathed, taking in just how alone they were.  
  
Evie shook her head in disbelief.  
  
“After all this time, I still can’t believe Auradon is this beautiful.”  
  
“…E!”  
  
Mal came to a stop and pointed with her free hand to where a particularly tall patch of grass glowed underneath the moonlight.  Evie frowned, narrowing her eyes in search, and the next sound drifting forth was her quiet gasp as she saw the tiny pinpoint of yellow flash to life before fading away.  Then another flash, in another place, yet another one in yet  _another_  place.  And all at once, the clearing was suddenly full, golden dust swilling and shimmering around them.  
  
“Fireflies…” Evie whispered.  
  
“Wow…” it was a rare occasion when a non-Evie related moment made Mal’s breath catch, but there she was.  
  
They had to take a minute, just watching the sea of fireflies float and flitter as if ballroom lighting were taking to the air.  Evie unwound her hand from Mal’s, choosing instead to let it slide up the line of her back and come to rest on her shoulder.  
  
“I believe you owe me a dance, M.”  
  
With great effort Mal turned away from the fireflies, looking up and down the moonlit shape of Evie’s form with confusion.  
  
“Evie, there’s no music,” she laughed.  
  
Evie slid off her heels, casting them aside and letting her bare feet rest in the soft cushion of grass.  Her hand walked a path across Mal, from shoulder, to jawline, to chin.  
  
“We don’t need any.”  
  
From chin, straight down to chest, pressing her hand right up against the center where she could feel the leisurely (but now quickening somewhat) thudding underneath her fingertips.  The only music she needed.  
  
“…We’ll dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat.”  
  
Mal’s lips parted just the slightest in silent surprise, and then she said everything without making a sound.  Her hands felt like they’d shake as they settled in on either side of Evie’s waist, even though they’d found their way there many a time before and had no reason to shake.  With a gentle pull, she had Evie right there against her, and closed what little distance was left between them by leaning in and resting their foreheads together.  Evie held both her palms flat against Mal’s chest, keeping the beat of their own private song.  To the right, to the left, and to the right again they began to slowly sway; one-two, one-two, one-two, one-two. A cricket choir in the background.  
  
Evie breathed deeply, as if in sleep; the peace around her was just as total as it was in sleep.  
  
“…Mal,” just a whisper was her voice.  
  
“Hm…” Mal already had her eyes closed.  
  
“…I love the way you look in a firefly glow.”  
  
Mal again said everything without making a sound, tilting her head, finding Evie’s lips in the dark, brushing her own against them with the soft touch of a feather. The rhythm began to beat faster, Evie could feel it, the way she felt Mal holding onto her.  Every molecule of Evie’s body buzzed, indulging herself in Mal when she could take the teasing no longer.  She was still sweet from the party, Evie tasted it, like candy and cake all rolled into one.  A feat in its own, Mal brought her in even closer after the kiss, burying her face in Evie’s shoulder.  
  
“…We don’t need a song, M,” Evie hummed.  She cast her eyes upwards, at the glittering stars.   
  
One more slow kiss.  Mal had no idea why they’d waited so long enduring the party before taking their chance to escape.  This could have been their entire night.  One-two, one-two, one-two, one-two.  
  
The fireflies were fluttering close as if out of curiosity, watching the silent dance. Evie lifted one hand to catch the light on her fingers, and feeling her touch leave her had Mal turning her head and opening her eyes to watch.  
  
“…I love the way you look in a firefly glow,” Mal echoed Evie’s words back to her, so easy and simple to say, slipping smoothly past her lips like a prayer.  
  
Evie caught one, a twinkling glimmer perched daintily on her finger, a little piece of magic right there before her.  
  
“Make a wish,” she said.  
  
“…This  _is_  my wish, E.”  
  
The party long forgotten, the thunder of music and carefree screams miles and miles away.  They’d ridden so far they couldn’t see the city lights, watching instead how they looked in a firefly glow.  Saying everything without making a sound, a cricket choir in the background, underneath a harvest moon, standing in their shoes and their bare feet.  
  
One-two, one-two, one-two, one-two.  
  
Dancing to the rhythm of their heartbeat.


End file.
